FM16: Hull City A.F.C, "The Tigers"

Hull City A.F.C

The Tigers

Brief Recent History

Founded in 1904, Hull City spent the early decades around the old 2nd Division, playing some good football (including an FA Cup Semi Final in 1930) without making it to the top tier. The latter part of the 20th century saw City fall to the 3rd and 4th Divisions, while the club's existence was at times uncertain with financial collapse looking likely more than once in the 80s and 90s. A low point was being rooted to the very bottom of the football league in 1998 before veteran player Warren Joyce took over as manager and led the team to the 'Great Escape', avoiding relegation to the Conference.

The new millenium saw a dramatic turnaround with new chairman Adam Pearson righting the ship and seeing City move from Boothferry Park, a once-great ground falling into disrepair, to a new home at the 25k all-seater KC Stadium. Under manager Peter Taylor the club saw a rapid rise through the leagues, promoted back-to-back in 03-04 (to League 1) and 04-05 (to the Championship). After a couple of seasons fighting to retain Championship status, manager Phil Brown took the club to unprecedented heights when a Dean Windass goal and playoff victory against Bristol City granted promotion to the Premier League in 2008, with the club now owned by a consortium.

Despite being favourites to go down, 2008-09 saw The Tigers get off to a fantastic start to the Premier League, sitting joint-top on points after nine games. This early form slipped away, however, and City just survived on the final day. The following season was a struggle throughout and relegation was confirmed in 2010 after a 2-2 draw at Wigan. With numerous players on high wages for the stature of the club, new boss Nigel Pearson began rebuilding the squad with youth back in the Championship. At this time new owners also arrived, the Allam family investing fresh money at a time where the accounts were looking disastrous. When Pearson left to manage Leicester City, club icon Nick Barmby made the switch from playing staff to non-playing staff as manager for the remainder of the season, but would be replaced by Steve Bruce in June 2012 following a fall-out with the new owners. Originally working on a 3 year promotion plan, Bruce managed to secure immediate promotion back to the Premier League on the final day of the 2012-13 season, a 2-2 draw at home to Cardiff meaning a nail-biting 20 minute wait for the delayed Watford vs Leeds game to confirm standings.

2013-14 saw Bruce achieve yet more, giving fans the first ever appearance in an FA Cup Final (losing 3-2 in extra time to Arsenal after being 2-0 up early on) and thus securing a Europa League qualifying spot for the 2014-15 season, while also avoiding relegation. Unfortunately the 2014-15 season was largely a disappointment, despite seeing a large investment in new players, as The Tigers crashed out of Europe before reaching the Group stages and relegation back to the Championship as big players from the previous season failed to perform to the same level and new signings did not provide the desired impact.

Heading into the 2015-2016 season the club has parachute money from relegation to help cover wages and the Premier League squad is largely intact but with some players entering the final year of contracts it may be necessary to secure immediate return to the top tier to avoid losing big names.

Facilities & Finance (16.0 Beta Database)

Stadium: KC Stadium (25,586 all-seater)

Corporate Facilities: Good

Training Facilities: Impressive

Youth Facilities: Average

Youth Level: 2

Junior Coaching: Adequate

Youth Recruitment: Average

Initial Balance: £42m

Initial Debt: £84m Outstanding Loans

Initial Transfer Budget: £3.5m (for goal of reaching Play-offs)

Initial Wage Budget: £373k per week (for goal of reaching Play-offs)

Initial Wage Spending: £357k per week

The youth level has recently increased from 3 to 2 but overall youth facilities will still require long term investment. .

Staff (16.0 Beta Database)

Starting staff offers basic coverage without being great, providing 4 physios, 2 scouts and 6 staff able to give first team coaching. While these staff will get a job done without any new additions, anyone looking to establish a serious scouting network will need a number of new scouts with higher stats. Similarly the coaching team, starting at 2.5 - 3.5 stars in the different areas, will require changes for any manager looking for 4+ star ratings across the board, although the average coaching in place is not the end of the world for those who prefer to crack on with the playing side and improve coaching later.

Assistant Manager Mike Phelan offers a 17 Motivation attribute which may be of help to anyone who struggles with team talks and prefers that the assistant handles those.

Players (16.0 Beta Database)

Goalkeepers

1. Allan McGregor (33)

2. Eldin Jakupovic (30)

Both keepers are in the final year of contracts, with McGregor on higher wages if looking to renew. He is a good shot stopper for the Championship but has weaknesses in other areas (such as communication) and at 33 his stats will only start to decline. Jakupovic may be a good backup but likely not wanted as a #1.

Centre Backs

1. Michael Dawson (31)

2. Curtis Davies (30)

3. Alex Bruce (30)

4. Harry Maguire (22)

The squad starts with 4 Centre Backs which may be ideal for anyone who wants double cover for a pairing here. Dawson and Davies both offer experience and leadership while Maguire has the promise of a little extra development. Speed and Agility may be lacking from this group though, and with Davies' contract expiring you have to decide if he is worth a renewal as he enters his thirties.

Full Backs / Wing Backs

1. Andrew Robertson (21, Left)

2. Moses Odubajo (21, Right)

3. Ryan Taylor (30, Right & Left)

4. Conor Townsend (22, Left)

5. Brian Lenihan (21, Right)

Robertson is the stand-out wide defender, as good as you can get for the Championship and with potential to develop more for any promotion to the Premiership. Odubajo is very fast but those attributes leave him weaker elsewhere, being lower than Robertson in technical and mental areas. Taylor is on the weak side physically but can offer coverage on either flank. Conor Townsend and Brian Lenihan are other options but neither has the ability to really be a good fullback.

Central Midfield

1. Tom Huddlestone (28, Deep Playmaker)

2. Jake Livermore (25, Box to Box)

3. Mo Diame (28, Ball Winner)

4. David Meyler (26, Ball Winner)

5. Isaac Hayden (20, Ball Winner) ** Loan **

Huddlestone is a bit slow and cumbersome but has the technique and vision to sit deep and distribute the ball. Unfortunately his contract is expiring and he may demand up to 30k per week to renew so a decision has to be made. Livermore is also pretty good to have next to him, not the most technically gifted but possessing a huge engine for tireless midfield work. Diame can be a strong ball winner in the middle but you may find that his low natural fitness sees him struggle to play week in, week out with the hectic Championship schedule. Meyler is reasonable all-round but also has his contract expiring, while loanee Hayden is another offering defensive workrate while lacking on the creative/technical side. There are a few combinations for two or three central midfielders and it's not a bad bunch to start out with, but wage negotiations may be an issue for some.

Attacking & Wide Midfield

1. Ahmed Elmohamady (27, Right Winger)

2. Robert Snodgrass (27, Right / Left Centre) - Lengthy injury

3. Shaun Maloney (32, Right / Left / Centre)

4. Sone Aluko (26, Right / Left / Centre)

5. Sam Clucas (24, Left)

Again, a number of options with different strengths. Elmohamady is fast and can put a great cross in but is another with his contract expiring. Snodgrass may be the best technically bit needs to return from a very serious injury, and has lost some pace. Maloney is in many ways similar to Snodgrass - he may not be fast but does have decent technicals, and can play across the pitch with his versatility. Aluko can run with the ball, but is he too weak elsewhere? His agility and flair may just unlock defences despite his other low attributes, or he may have games where he's absent. Getting the best out of him could be key. Clucas doesn't look like the best addition in-game, with low pace and fairly poor attributes overall, but does at least offer some coverage for a number of positions (including fullback if needed).

Strikers

1. Abel Hernandez (24)

2. Adama Diomande (25)

3. Chuba Akpom (19) ** Loan **

The biggest change to the squad this year comes up front, with only Hernandez being retained. He's a Uruguay international with plenty of pace but will his low finishing, decision making and workrate frustrate? Diomande is not as agile but is strong, brave and works harder, which may be preferable if you need a striker to hold the ball up for others. Akpom is the other Arsenal loanee and is another with plenty of pace. He also offers strength and work rate but his poor agility and lack of dribbling ability could see him struggle in tight spaces.

Summary

You're taking over as manager in 2015 at the start of the season back in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League. There is money in the bank to cover debts and the board will provide a small transfer budget with some room to adjust wages but with minimum demands of a top 6 finish and the club making a loss each month without top-tier TV money you really need to be looking for promotion soon. Several key names have their contracts expiring at the end of the year and after failing to perform last season you have to decide if you renew their deals to try to keep them at the club or sell now while they still have sale value and reinvest the money in rebuilding with your own choice of players. Fail to gain promotion and another batch of players would be running out of contract the following season. The starting squad has a mix of players with different strengths and weaknesses, which may lead to various different systems and formations working, but will they play the way you need them to?

There is certainly potential here to finish high in the league and return to the top tier if you can get the best out of them, but if the squad performs the same as the previous season it could be a struggle of mid-table mediocrity. The choice of renewing contracts and keeping the starting squad intact or selling and rebuilding will be key.

Exzellent opening post, nice and concise. Had fun reading it.

When the game is released I'm going start a game with a couple of friends where we all pick championship sides. My team of choice will probably be Hull, as I'm a Spurs fan and relish the thought of getting Livermore, Huddlestone and Dawson back into the Premier League.

To prepare, I've had a few experimental startups with The Tigers so far. The team really does have some quality players, but it does come with a few challenges.

One problem is injuries. They start with Snodgrass out for months. A bigger issue though, is that Abel Hernandez seems particularly injury prone. In two of three starts he has gotten a 5+ months injury in pre-season. That leaves you a bit short up front. Other key players, such as Curtis Davies, have gotten long term injuries as well.

Another issue is squad balance. One of the reasons I want to chose Hull is their history with a 3/5 man back line. That's something I've had many half hearted attempts of using as a foundation for my formations in FM. The problem now is that the squad lacks a good right wing back (and right back). Both Elmohamady and Odubajo are best in more advanced positions (respectively as winger MR and winger AMR). In 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 using wingers might be a little too imbalanced.

On the left side the squad has the opposite problem. Apart from the injured Snodgrass, the by far best player is Andrew Robertson, a LB or LWB. He can play a ML, but the drops from 3,5* to 1-1,5* according to the assistant.

At CB the squad is very good, with Dawson, Davies and Maguire all being very good and Bruce not far behind. In Davies you even have a bit of quickness. Behind those four though there are nothing useful, meaning you need a couple of backup players at least if you wanna play with three CBs.

CM is like CB, well equipped. Diame and Huddlestone are brilliant if they are used correctly, while Meyler and Livermore are very good. Personally I tend to go a bit against the stream, and my reaction to seeing people posting tactics where it seems half their teams are playmakers makes me wanna do the opposite, which is troublesome for Huddlestone. He has a quite specific skillset, making him a good deep lying playmaker, and less good as a CM(d/s/a). Likewise, I can't figure out how to correctly play BWM - and I'm not a fan of the role - which hurts Meyler quite a bit. But Diame and Livermore thrives as CMs.

Up front the squad is quite limited, at least if Hernandez is as injury prone as he has seemed so far. Diomande is best played as a target man, while Akpom is best as a defensive forward. At the very least, the club needs one backup goalscoring type striker. Luckily Dwight Gayle were offered to me from CP, he's done a good job. Akpom's loan should be terminated, as he belongs to a red club who's name I will not speak. Aluko can play striker, but isn't more than decent backup.

The club really lacks AMC, and/or a creative central attacker, for those who likes to use such. There is nada at AMC.

Nice to see a Hull City thread. Pretty sure we lacked one last year. I quite enjoyed taking them on last year, even though I don't actually support the club. Maybe its the orange....

Bit of a different beast this year, being in the Championship. I haven't played proper but I have tooled around. Used a narrow defensive 4-4-2 diamond and whupped up on the U21 side. Then got whupped up on the first full friendly against "inferior" opposition.

A few early observations....

-you can get almost double the transfer budget by upping the expectations. That's flirting with fire a little bit as you have some promises to live up to then. And...

-my scouts don't think anyone I've scouted wants to join. The starting scouts are pretty tire so I hired a few more and they seemed to give the same information. I get that highly toured prospects aren't going to be interested, if they are on the radar of the big Prem and La Liga clubs. But some of the Scandinavian and eastern European players who aren't exactly 5 star potential were still noted as being uninterested. I realize you can try to talk some of them into signing but giving a decent 18 year old prospect a monster contract and making them vice captain seems a bit excessive. Curious who others have targeted and who they have signed.

-the club has few quality young prospects off the start. Very few U21 and U18 players are likely to make the cut, and the mediocre facilities means those need to be upgraded to start getting those kind of prospects through.

-looks like Robertson is still going to develop into a monster leftback, and he's already quite good

-the squad only has so much tactical flexibility. As Gishi points out, no really creative MC or AMC. Not much for natural wingers. Not even really a true purely defensive DM. Its certainly workable but you can end up playing players where they aren't ideally suited.

Personally I tend to go a bit against the stream, and my reaction to seeing people posting tactics where it seems half their teams are playmakers makes me wanna do the opposite, which is troublesome for Huddlestone. He has a quite specific skillset, making him a good deep lying playmaker, and less good as a CM(d/s/a). Likewise, I can't figure out how to correctly play BWM - and I'm not a fan of the role - which hurts Meyler quite a bit. But Diame and Livermore thrives as CMs.

I'd agree that Huddlestone is tailor-made for a DLP(d) role. He has no agility or pace so not really the sort of player you want charging around closing down, but by sitting deep and holding position he can keep himself open to receive the ball and distribute it. You can always stick with him as a lone playmaker, and use other roles further up the pitch. If I was to stick with the starting squad I'd probably play Diame and/or Livermore next to him as a CM(s) or one of the other support roles. BWM(s) isn't that much different really, it just has higher closing down and tackling compared to the normal CM(s).

The problem a lot of people have with BWM is that it really is a high closing down role, even on defend, so the player will leave position and cause gaps. If you play it next to a normal CM(d), which also has higher closing down, you can end up with a central midfield pairing both charging after the ball and no one covering the defence. Likewise if you try to use a BWM as the 'holding' role in midfield, and an offensive midfielder next to him, the closing down will again leave no one sitting deep. If you play a BWM(s) next to a DLP(d), though, the deep playmaker has the lowest closing down of any central midfield role and will provide that cover behind for the ball winner to press ahead of him.

DLP(d) and BWM(s) can make a good combo, you just have to have the right player in the BWM role to avoid endless yellows and reds. If you want the closing down side without the hard tackling to help with that you can always play a CM(s) instead and manually increase the closing via player instructions. I'd say DLP(d) and CM(s) / BWM(s) would be an ideal way to pair Huddlestone with Diame, Livermore or Meyler as a midfield pair. B2B(s) would work too if you want that extra bit of movement while accepting the fact that Huddlestone might be left alone a bit more.

One thing I've noticed with Diame is that his ppm of shooting more causes quite a lot of long range shots, which can be quite wasteful. If he has a day of shooting every time he gets the ball I give him an individual instruction to shoot less, which tones it down and keeps the passing going more.

Nice to see a Hull City thread. Pretty sure we lacked one last year. I quite enjoyed taking them on last year, even though I don't actually support the club. Maybe its the orange....

Aye, last year it went months without one so I put one up when I got my main FM15 save going. It was quite late into FM15 though (March), so a lot of people were done by then and not that active. And it's supposed to be amber

Aye, last year it went months without one so I put one up when I got my main FM15 save going. It was quite late into FM15 though (March), so a lot of people were done by then and not that active. And it's supposed to be amber

Amber is close enough to orange for my eyes.

Who have you managed to sign? I likely won't get a proper game going until the full version of the game is out, but the scouts not thinking even other Championship players would want to join has me a bit worried that bringing in some quality players to create some depth might be difficult.

Season 1: 2015-16 (Beta) - Summer of '15

I figured I'd wait until January of the first year to post some details of my Beta save. Being roughly half way through the season it's given a bit of time to test things, have new players settle in and see some stability. I'll quickly run through what I've done so far.

Assessing the Squad

I ran through the players pretty much as outlined in the original post, to see how they were rated in this version. As has been highlighted, central defence and central midfield are the strengths here and pretty much good to go but there is that lack of a creative AMC if a desired formation would need one, and the expiring contracts of Davies, Huddlestone and Meyler would need decisions. Delighted with Robertson as starting left back but doubts over Odubajo (he has pace but not much else). There would be potential for Elmohamady and Aluko as wingers in a 442, but Elmo is another with his contract running down. Up front I had doubts over Akpom with his poor agility/dribbling, Hernandez's low finishing and workrate worried me while Diomande seemed a little more rounded. I wasn't totally happy with either McGregor or Jakupovic in goal.

Choosing a Formation / Tactical Plan

After looking through the squad I decided to base things around a 4231 / 4411, with an AMC in behind a lone forward. It came down to a choice between fitting a formation around the squad or fitting the squad around a formation, and as I like a 4231 when it works I decided to go with that from the start and make whichever changes I felt necessary to utilise the shape. As said, half the positions are already well covered, I'd just need to highlight the gaps to be filled.

Fitting the Players to the Shape

Goalkeeper

I could get by with McGregor in goal and Jakupovic as backup but with their contracts expiring and me not particularly eager to renew I marked this as a position to look for a new keeper and see if I could sell either of these two.

Defence

Robertson is starting left back without doubt and the 4 of Dawson, Davies, Maguire and Bruce would be great for the central positions. I renewed Davies' contract for another couple of seasons as he still has time before he declines. Right back was my main issue here so I'd try to find a stronger starting right back but go with Odubajo if no one better was available. Taylor isn't ideal with his physicals but could sit on the bench to cover both fullback spots, with Townsend and Lenihan playing U21 football as emergency backups. Not much to strengthen here then. The plan would be for both fullbacks to get forward and provide width for the shape.

Central Midfield

For this shape I planned a simple pairing - one holding midfielder, either DLP(d) or CM(d) with closing reduced, and then a support partner which would probably be a CM(s). I was going to use Huddlestone as the holding player but he wanted 30k wages to renew, and with his poor agility/speed I decided to sell him while I could still get good value. Similarly Meyler wanted too close to 20k to renew and I didn't feel he was worth it, so would sell while he still had value. That left Diame, Livermore and Hayden. I penciled Diame in as the first choice support player and Hayden is clearly more defensive. Livermore I felt suited to either role, so between the three I could rotate a bit to keep them fresh.

Attacking Midfield Trio

I wanted 3 creative players in the attacking midfield roles, preferably with pace for those in the wider roles. As I wasn't sure whether to play with wide midfielders at MR/L or AMR/L, proficiency in both would be a plus. I didn't want outright wingers who'd stay wide to cross but rather the type to cut in and add goals, so Elmo didn't really fit for me. With his contract running out he's another I'd look to sell rather than renew. For the AMC I wanted an Ozil-type role, threading key passes with good vision and floating around being a creative threat, and would look to bring someone in. Maloney immediately stood out as being extremely versatile - he's not the fastest but technically quite good for this league and natural in all my attacking positions. Aluko's pace and flair I felt suited to an attacking wide role, though I had doubts about his other attributes. Snodgrass would also fit, and like Maloney is highly versatile, but he'd be injured for the first 4 months and need time to get fitness back up after. I'd try to sign a few players here then, creative players for AMC and more cover for the wider positions.

Lone Forward

With 3 to choose from here there was no clear first choice. Hernandez might well be the best with the pace, dribbling and technique but Diomande would add strength, work rate and bravery which may be useful for feeding the attacking mids. Akpom would likely be 3rd choice backup while the other two fought for the starting role.

So Huddlestone, Meyler and Elmo would be sold rather than renewing while Davies would be renewed. Taylor would see out his contract as backup with McGregor being sold if I could find a good replacement and Jakupovic seeing out his contract as backup too. My main signings would be a few attack-minded midfielders and potentially a right back if I could find someone better all-round than Odubajo.

Transfers, Summer 2015

Out

Tom Huddlestone (£5m) - Watford

Ahmed Elmohamady (£5m) - Monaco

David Meyler (£4m) - Watford

In

Sondre Rossbach (£20k) - Odd - GK

Kristoffer Olsson (£1.2m) - FC Midtjylland - M/AM C

Paul McGowan (£300k) - Dundee - M/AM C/R

Aaron Doran (£375k) - Inverness CT - M/AM R/L

Ali Crawford (£475k) - Hamilton - M/AM C

Morten Konradsen (£41k) - FC Bodo/Glimt - M/AM C

Fabinho (£625k) - Feirense - M/AM C

Rossbach is a keeper I used last year as a lower/mid Premier League team and his potential this year seems similar. I was able to sign a contract for January and then buyout as an immediate transfer for £20k. He'd compete with McGregor for starting keeper initially, as no one wanted to buy him or Jakupovic who would also stay as backup. I couldn't find a stronger right back willing to join so Odubajo would stay as first choice.

Fabinho and Crawford would primarily be for the AMC position with Doran a natural wide player for either side. Olsson, McGowan and Konradsen might be natural central players but all have competency out wide too which can be trained further, making them versatile. I like having players able to play across the right, central and left attacking midfield positions as it gives me options and flexibility for rotation or covering injuries. I did sign more attacking mids than I really need but as half of them are still young it gives me time to assess them further and see who develops well.

With the money from the sales I did have bids in for some higher regarded players, which were accepted, but other teams (like Porto) from higher rep leagues always came in and the contracts were signed with them instead. Being in the Championship I had to focus on places like Scotland and Scandinavia to get the players in. By the end of the window I had a somewhat larger squad with midfield in particular having plenty of cover, and money in the bank for January if I needed to make further changes then.

I'll add a post soon with the January update for how things are going, and will edit this to add some screenshots of the new signings.

Some screenshots of the new signings:

Rossbach

For £20k I think he's a bargain, and arguably already better than McGregor. His potential should see him improve too. I'll be trying to get his Positioning and Anticipation up, while his goalkeeping attributes should naturally keep increasing. He has the potential to be my #1 until established in the Premier League, and looks like he may repeat last year's development to reach 14+ in most areas.

Crawford:

Decent pace, reasonable technicals and some vison. He's not a star player but might do a decent job in this league at AMC, and his 'gets forward' ppm may give him added goal threat.

Fabinho:

He lacks physicals but is young with potential so I'll try to focus development there. His strong points are all those technical and mental attributes at 14+, combined with others at 12+. He could be good at sitting in the hole and feeding others.

Olsson:

Probably the best all-round signing, his only weakness is that he can't defend - though shooting could use a little improvement. He was signed for AMC but with Fabinho and Crawford here now too he might see some play out wide given his competency there. I do have some concerns about his 'dwells on ball' ppm you can't quite see there, and I'm not sure about him coming deep for the ball as a more attacking player, but I can try to have him unlearn them if needed.

McGowan

He's natural in the centre but he may be used more as cover out wide while Snodgrass recovers. As with the others, he adds good vision and passing ability with a set of average attributes elsewhere. Not the best but can do a job when needed.

Doran:

Doran adds cover for either wide position. He's not the fastest but can run with the ball, adds some flair and is reasonable technically. I'm not expecting him to top the league for assists but he'll be a handy sub on the bench to cover those wide roles.

Konradsen

Probably the least gifted currently, he's only 19 and is one for the future with that potential. I'll give him games when I can to help him develop but I couldn't pass up the chance to see how he does develop, even though I'd signed a bunch of others in his position(s) already. I'll probably give him training at left midfield so he can be another with the versatility to play in all 3 positions.

Season 1: 2015-16, January Update

I had a slowish start to the season as although I only lost 1 of the first 10 I had 6 draws in a row to leave me mid-table. I'd tried a few different roles, and mixed the positions and players a little, before settling on something a bit more stable. I'd been pretty solid defensively all along but had to make a few tweaks to bring more goals in. Now at the start of January I'm up to 3rd, a few points off the top but hoping I can pull it back over the second half of the season if the wins keep coming in. So far I've been playing catch-up after all those draws at the start.

I'm into the 4th round of the FA Cup after just beating Fulham, waiting for the draw to see who I get. Knocked out of the League Cup already.

Shape / Squad

GK (Def): Rossbach, McGregor, Jakupovic

DR (FB / Att): Odubajo, Taylor*, Lenihan

DC (Def): Dawson, Bruce

DC (Cover): Davies, Maguire

DL (FB / Sup): Robertson, Clucas, Taylor*, Townsend

MC (CM / Def): Hayden, Livermore* (Instruction: Less closing down)

MC (CM / Sup): Diame, Livermore* (Instruction: More closing down)

MR (WM / Att): Snodgrass, Aluko, McGowan

ML (WM / Att): Olsson, Maloney, Doran

AMC (AMC / Sup): Crawford, Fabinho, Konradsen (Instructions: Roaming, More risky passes)

SC (CF / Sup): Hernandez, Diomande

The defence has been pretty good. Robertson is a star, his ppm to get forward often meaning even as FB/S he provides a lot of attacking width. My biggest weakness is if he's not fit to play as Taylor and Townsend are both inferior. For Odubajo on the opposide flank I had to make him a FB/A to get him involved the same way, but he's still not as effective. Dawson, Davies and Maguire are all strong rotating the central defence positions with Bruce as cover. Rossbach has already become my first choice keeper.

In the middle I pretty much rotate the three to keep them fresh. Hayden has been surprisingly strong in the holding role, Diame is doing a good job as support and Livermore performs well in either role.

You can see I have a lot of competition for the 3 attacking midfield roles, with 9 players fighting for 3 spots, but that's been rather handy. Snodgrass was fantastic when he finally got fit, getting goals instantly, but he constantly picks up niggling injuries and hasn't had a sustained run yet with only 2 games started. Aluko has also been effective on the right, cutting in, but is another who tends to get injuries, and Doran has been useful but picked up a 4 month injury. Maloney has been one of the best on the flank, and McGowan pretty effective on either side too. At AMC I've increasingly been using Crawford and Fabinho, Crawford providing more goal threat and Fabinho the better provider for others. Konradsen has played least but I'll try to give him more games as he keeps developing.

Up front it's been a fairly even mix between Hernandez and Diomande. Both have performed ok, neither setting the league alight. Hernandez has more goals but misses so many chances it's frustrating - one game he hit the woodwork 4 times! Diomande has less goals himself but links with the midfield a little better and has more assists for them. I barely used Akpom so just cancelled his loan as I have several attacking midfielders with competency to cover the forward role in emergencies and may use this January window to look for another striker.

Summary

I'm 3rd, not far off the top and happy with my tactics and overall performances. Had a few annoying injuries but I have the depth to cover them and hopefully I can push on to get promoted. If I can get Snodgrass fit for an extended run of games I think he'll shine, but he needs to get back on the pitch first!

Awesome update, Chris. Really appreciate seeing who you managed to sign. Olsson is one I was already considering. I had Rossbach in a few games last year so great to see he still has similar potential. Looks cheaper than last edition, too.

I don't expect to get a game rolling before the full release in a week. Might even take a bit after that. Will probably stick with a narrow formation, given the starting talent and lack of wingers.

I'm in...

Didn't do a thread last year - not sure why, but glad you've done this one

I'm messing about until main release so won't post a lot just yet

Just a few points

Snodgrass is amazing when fit

Aluko has been scoring for fun playing wide right - not sure how he ended up there in reality though

Diomande has been outscoring Hernandez

I cannot get Diame to work - need to redefine a place where he can play to his strengths

Given Diame's high value at the start of the game.. is he sellable?

Given Diame's high value at the start of the game.. is he sellable?

Possibly, but not at anywhere near starting value. Ran a quick test. Offered him out right at the start at €15m. His starting value is €16.5 so a bit under. Two clubs were interested - Aston Villa and someone else. But no bid. Simmed a week and both were no longer interested. Offered him at €12.5m Interest from West Brom but no offers. No change when offered out at €10m. At €7.5, there's about 20 clubs interested but a lot of clubs that aren't going to have big transfer budgets. I ended up getting 4 offers at that point, ranging from €3.2m to as low as €975k. So yeah, not going to get a huge amount for him, it would seem.

Diame isn't the most technically gifted player in the game. His value to me stems from his huge work rate, teamwork and strength - his mentals are generally very good for the Championship. I've mostly played him as a CM Support with increased closing down, using that work rate to harass opposing players. He has the 'Shoots from Distance' ppm and while he only has 12 long shots and 13 technique he has scored a couple of long range shots, plus a couple of assists where the keeper has parried his shots out to one of my other players to tap in for a goal. There will be games where he shoots 5 times and blasts it over the bar each attempt though, so that ppm can make him a liability if you prefer keeping possession (setting him to shoot less helps with this).

He's no playmaker, and he's not a Lampard type of midfield scorer, but he puts a good all-round shift in at this level.

I do find I have to rest him more than some others, as with 11 natural fitness he doesn't recover condition quite as fast between games when there are midweek matches.

Think I would just play him as a ball winner in front of a DM and let him just harass and harass.

My main issue with BWM is that the fixed heavy tackling can often lead to yellow cards early in a match, making that player a risk for the rest of the game. Obviously they can be changed to another role if they get a yellow to enable easier tackling - and I have done that with Diame in several matches - but it always makes me a little uneasy, particularly as his 12 tacking isn't the best. Hence me usually just playing him as CM(s) with his closing down set high via player instructions, which recreates the harassing of a BWM without the heavy tackling. He might not tackle quite as much but he gets less yellows that way. The mentality of a CM(s) is slightly higher than a BWM(s) but I find that just helps him link with the attackers a bit more.

It depends on the opposition too. For some tough away matches I've played him as a BWM(D) (alongside the CM(D)) to keep him a little deeper while keeping the pressing and risking the heavier tackling, with Livermore ready to come on if he picks up a yellow.

End of Season 1: 2015-16

In the January update I was 3rd with Bristol City topping the table and Middlesbrough in 2nd. Through the second half of the season Bristol City maintained their form and stayed in the top 2 with QPR moving up with a run of wins. As the season came to a close those two kept changing top spot while I stayed 3rd, at times almost catching them and other times dropping back a few points. Bristol secured promotion in the penultimate game and the final day saw the top 2 play each other, QPR at home to Bristol while I was at home to Rotherham. With QPR on 82 and us on 80 with the same goal difference I had to win with QPR drawing or losing, regardless of the scoreline, to go up.

It started badly with Austin putting QPR 1-0 up and despite dominating possession I went 0-1 down early (bad defending from Bruce, only playing as Dawson and Maguire were injured). Right before half time I won a penalty but Hernandez missed. Not good! I told the team to show me better at the break, subbed Hernandez who was having a shocker and after 53 minutes Diomande put me level. I conceded again in the 65th to go 1-2 down, and with QPR still 1-0 it was not going well. Thankfully Snodgrass pulled one back immediately but at 2-2 I still needed another goal and needed Bristol to equalise in their match. Shortly after they did, 1-1, but time was dragging on without me scoring despite coming close numerous times. Finally Konradsen popped up on the edge of the box in the 83rd to curl one in the top corner, and at 3-2 with QPR still 1-1 I anxiously watched the final 7 minutes, pulling out the good old extra defensive approach to hold out. Nothing changed and with the whistle blowing that was it... promotion, just!

Tactics

After changing a bit in the first several matches I stuck with 4411 after that. I played a simple centre back pairing of CD© and CD(D) and a pair of FB(S). Robertson has the ppm to get forward which kept him pushing up but Odubajo I often set to attack duty if chasing a goal as he lacks that ppm and stays a bit deeper. I used a CM(D) and CM(S) as the central pair in midfield, but set the Def to less closing down and the Support to more, reversing their defaults, to have the holding player stay deeper and let the support mid do the chasing. A pair of WM(A) played out wide, a role I like as it doesn't 'force' either cutting in or crossing and lets ppms or custom instructions influence play. I got quite a few goals from these two wide positions. An AM(S) played in the hole, again a role that doesn't 'force' playstyle but I could use ppms or set instructions like more risky passing and roaming to make more creative. Finally I used a CF(S) up top, avoiding an attack role to keep the forward linking with midfield. I changed it to a DF(S) if using a player with poor vision there.

Original Players

I'll run through how those of the starting squad did for me.

McGregor and Jakupovic were only backup as Rossbach became #1 quite early in the season. McGregor played a few, Jak none. Both will go with contracts expiring in the summer and I'll get a cheap backup keeper.

My defence was the most intact from the starting squad as Dawson and Davies were the first choice centre back pair. Maguire played quite a bit too, rotating in for fitness and if D or D got injured, with Bruce staying 4th choice and only playing a handful of games - he got injured a lot too. Quite solid defenders for the championship, though I'm worried about Dawson's lack of pace for the Premier League. Robertson was a star at left back, only 5 assists but he often assisted the assister with constant runs down the left wing to cross in or pull the ball back. A lot of goals came from his side. Odubajo was ok, but not near Robertson's consistency or skill and I'll try to find a new starting right back for next season. I more or less ignored Taylor, Lenihan and Townsend, playing the other two even when tired and luckily they avoided injuries.

Central midfield saw a bit of rotation and mixing up, with Livermore (5 goals, 3 assists) and Diame (2 goals, 6 assists) both playing as support. Livermore was equally as good in the holding role though, and often rotated him and Hayden there. Again, I switched the 3 around based on fitness. Out wide, Snodgrass (11 goals, 5 assists) took some time to get fit but once he reached full fitness he was a machine from wide right. Not the fastest but great technially for this league and he was 2nd highest scorer despite missing half the season. Maloney (5 goals, 10 assists) started off really well at wide left but did decline a bit towards the end after turning 33 and losing attributes. Aluko (3 goals, 4 assists) had some great games out wide but a total 6 months of injuries really limited his play time. Luckily I had all the various new signings to help cover out wide.

Hernandez (18 goals, 4 assists) was my top striker, but also the most frustrating to watch. He often turned defenders with his pace, dribbling and agility but would then miss what looked like an easy chance, which I put down to his poor finishing. Still, he had the technique to pull off some great goals and got in enough good positions to get plenty of chances to eventually convert, just felt like he was better with half chances than easy ones! Diomande (5 goals, 3 assists) was mostly backup given Hernandez's form and did ok in that role but I'm sure someone else could get him to score a lot if used as a starter.

New Signings

I already posted screenshots of my new signings. Rossbach I was fairly happy with in goal, he's still very young for a keeper and developing all the time. My numerous midfield signings all came in useful as I had cover for any midfield injuries, and as many of them are versatile in terms of positioning they were used both out wide and centrally. Olsson (4 goals, 10 assists) I'd say was the best, covering both AMC and wide left. McGowan (4 goals, 4 assists) played a lot early on at wide right but was dropped when Snodgrass got fit. Konradsen (3 goals, 4 assists) is the youngest and played more as the season went on, including that promotion winner, mostly at left midfield despite only being competent there. Crawford (3 goals, 3 assists) was mostly cover for AMC, contributed when needed but didn't play a lot, and Fabinho (1 goal, 6 assists) started off playing at AMC but with his lower agility etc. I ended up playing him deeper, putting him as the CM(S) for some easier home games with more risky passes set to help create from deep. Doran (1 goal, 0 assists) was the least used, only as extra cover for either of the wide positions. Glad I had him for a few games where I had a number of injuries though, and the christmas period where fitness is always an issue.

I did add Jason Cummings (3 goals, 1 assist) as a final january signing after canceling Akpom's loan, £500k from Hibernian. He rotated in a little as striker and is one I'll try to develop more, but I'm not sure his low vision and decision making will suit the way I want to play.

Summary

Overall I'm happy with the season as I got promoted, but it was close! Expected to be in the playoffs until QPR had that awful form at the end. It was nice getting automatic promotion with a net profit of £11.7m from transfers (£14m received, only £2.3m spent). I would've liked a bit better defence but then I did play a fairly attacking setup so I suppose it's to be expected - it was 4411 without the ball but became more of a 4213 when attacking so I was vulnerable to counterattacks. I was also happy with the starting squad, there's enough quality in there to get the job done and room to bring in a few faces for added depth. That said, I don't think I would've done too well if my starting fullbacks had been injured for any length of time, particularly Robertson. I could've played a number of different formations but pleased that I was able to fit the players to this one. It'd be interesting to see how Hernandez and Diomande do as a strike pair though. If I was to start another City save I'd likely keep Huddlestone to see how he does as a DLP, but in this case I was thinking long-term and used his 30k wage demands to sign multiple extra midfielders instead, each for a fraction of what he wanted to renew. Maybe I'd try to keep both him and Elmo and give 442 a go with the strike pairing up top.

That said, I've finished the season just before the full version is released so I'll see what the update brings. If the database hasn't changed much and the players retain the same abilities I'll likely press on with this save and go for a long-term career in the Premier League as I'd like to keep developing this squad and playstyle.

Nice summary, UKChris.

So on the 16.1 data update, it looks like Hull get more money on the start. And it looks on first glance like Diame has been given a bit of an upgrade. I don't remember him having a workrate of 19 previously but I could be wrong...

So on the 16.1 data update, it looks like Hull get more money on the start. And it looks on first glance like Diame has been given a bit of an upgrade. I don't remember him having a workrate of 19 previously but I could be wrong...

I just loaded up the new database on another machine to compare side by side and Diame is exactly the same as before for all attributes. He had the 19 work rate already. The rest of the squad looks the same too, I just ran through them all. As far as I know the newer database pretty much just updated the clubs people are at (eg. transfers made since the previous database, manager changes etc.).

The finances look the same too, at £3.5m transfer budget and £373k p/w wage budget before any adjustments.

It looks like I'll be continuing my beta save unless the final release makes significant changes to the database, but as they said this is more or less what the release version will be that doesn't seem likely

I just loaded up the new database on another machine to compare side by side and Diame is exactly the same as before for all attributes. He had the 19 work rate already. The rest of the squad looks the same too, I just ran through them all. As far as I know the newer database pretty much just updated the clubs people are at (eg. transfers made since the previous database, manager changes etc.).

The finances look the same too, at £3.5m transfer budget and £373k p/w wage budget before any adjustments.

It looks like I'll be continuing my beta save unless the final release makes significant changes to the database, but as they said this is more or less what the release version will be that doesn't seem likely

You are correct about Diame and possibly correctly about the money. I double checked after posting that and realized he was indeed the same. Not sure why his higher mental attributes jumped out at me more on the update. Might just be because I adjusted the attribute colors - silly but seems likely. As for the money, I thought that the max you could get (by promising everything) was less than the touch over 7m I could get on the update, but I didn't verify. It just struck me that I'd have more money to play with, though I didn't want to promise the moon.

Messed around yesterday, mostly trying to figure out tactics and transfers. Not a save I will be continuing. Did provide my first "oh lord, its what time?" moment of FM16. I copied Chris and signed Rossbach and Olsson. I also signed Ali Coote, Jason Cummings, and Andraj Zikovic. I decided to mostly target younger players who will/should develop to create squad depth. Coote is a 17 year old Scottish AMC who my scouts gave 4 stars. Zikovic is well known from FM15, but he was more of a test buy. Someone mentioned it has become more possible to get him a Work Permit on the new update. When I scouted, Partizan didn't want a ton for him so I decided to bid. Had to give him Key Player status and buy out the percentage owned by his agent, but got a WP on appeal. The squad status likely helped in that regard. Unlikely I will buy him on my actual save as he's a winger and the formation I'm likely to run doesn't use wingers.

Speaking of the formation, I was most wanting to try out my tactical ideas after doing some reading over the past week. Its similar to what I mentioned before, a counterattacking 4-4-2 narrow diamond. Its working pretty well so far. The defensive aspect isn't as tight yet as I'd like. I've only played four friendlies - the U21 side, two minnows, and Wigan. Won all three but gave up 3 goals to a minnow. A 10-3 win is still a big win, but I don't like those 3 goals given up. My concerns over whether Abel Hernandez could be effective as the primary goal threat seem misplaced so far - 13 goals in those 4 matches. I have to test against real opposition but I'm liking most of what I'm seeing so far.

Well done on the promotion Chris. I have 6 games to go in my season and sat in 3rd at the moment

Season 2015/16

Season ended with promotion. It wasn't always on the cards but a run of just 2 defeats in the last 18 games saw us home

Transfer wise, I didn't see a need to bring anyone in initially having on paper the best squad. However in January I needed to add some more creativity and steel to the midfield so brought in two new signings having released Hayden back to Arsenal

I will post the team of the season shortly

(note to self - bigger screenshots needed next time)

Looking at the player stats the Top Scorers were as follows

17 Chuba Akpom

16 Sone Aluko

13 Robert Snodgrass

12 Adama Diomande

11 Abel Hernandez

Then there was a big gap to Sam Clucas on 6 goals

From a playing perspective I think Brian Lenihan has shown a lot of promise. He featured regularly off the bench to allow Odubajo to move to a more attacking position. I need to get Akpom to sign permanently and also look to either sign Kouyate or something similar.

My need for a new GK is the most pressing as decided to release McGregor at the end of the season unless he accepts back up terms

As for the money, I thought that the max you could get (by promising everything) was less than the touch over 7m I could get on the update, but I didn't verify. It just struck me that I'd have more money to play with, though I didn't want to promise the moon.

You could be right there, I only compared the default budgets for achieving a playoff position.

Rossbach and Olsson should do nicely for you I just managed to teach Olsson to stop dwelling on the ball at the second time of asking, it was the one ppm of his I didn't like. Trying to turn him into a mini-Ozil type of player, though his potential obviously isn't quite as high. Cummings I've only had for the second half of the first season but he certainly has a good shot. Will have to see how he develops in the Premier League.

Hernandez should do fine for you in the first season. Good luck!

Season ended with promotion.

Congrats on promotion Nice to see it done without changing the starting squad too. Going to make big changes for the top flight or try to stick with as many as possible?

Start of Season 2: 2016-17 - Summer '16

As the release database hasn't changed the squad I'm continuing my beta save, preparing for the first season back in the Premier League after promotion. As most of the squad were on short term contracts in the Championship there's another batch of expiring contracts to decide on, plus most players got big wage boosts for promotion which means quite a few on higher wages than I'd like. I'm going to stick with my 4411/4231 with marauding fullbacks and Olsson at AMC in the 'Ozil role', feeding the attacking players around him.

After promotion I was given a £25m transfer budget and £580k p/w wage budget to strengthen the squad, for the default aim of avoiding relegation which I stuck with. There was 50% of transfer revenue available but I negotiated that up to 65%.

Transfers In, Summer 2016

Dele Alli (£12.75m) - MC, AMC - Tottenham

Alberto Bueno (£6m) - AML/C - Porto

Andrei Ivan (£5.75m) - STC - CS U Craiova

Davide Zappacosta (£4.8m) - DR, WBR - Torino

Cristian Pavon (£3m) - AML/C, STC - Boca (no work permit)

Xavi Torres (£925k) - DMC, MC - R. Betis

Gaetano Berardi (£325k) - DR/L - Leeds

Ryan Bennett (£300k) - DC - Norwich

Daniel Bentley (Free) - GK

Rune Jarstein (Free) - GK

Total Spent: £33.85m

Dele Alli is my big cost signing, a young midfielder I turned into a top scoring striker in FM15 and his attributes/potential look more or less identical for '16. He does have some ppms now which may see me stick with him in midfield this version, will see. Bueno is another I signed last version (there's a trend here) and, again, looking quite similar I picked him up to add some pace and flair given my Championship midfield was on the slower side. He'll probably play on the left and cut in. I tried to sign Ivan in the Championship and beat Liverpool to get him in the summer after they bid too. He's still young but should have the potential to develop very well. He has good physicals already, I just need to improve his technical side. Should be my starting striker this season. Zappacosta comes in as new starting right back, a bit stronger all-round than Odubajo and some depth at that position now. Pavon is a bit of a gamble... the work permit application failed but I signed him anyway as he's on a 5 year deal and I think he has potential to be top class. I sent him straight out on loan to France but I'm hoping he gets enough reputation soon to win a permit appeal within a couple of seasons. Torres should make me a bit more solid in the holding midfield role and Berardi and Bennett come in as low cost cover/rotation for left back and centre back. Bentley and Jarstein come in as free, low-wage cover for Rossbach.

Transfers Out, Summer 2016

Abel Hernandez (£12m) - STC - Bordeaux

Mohamed Diame (£5m) - MC - Everton

Aaron Doran (£550k) - MR/L - Rangers

Sam Clucas (£200k) - ML - Rangers

Alex Bruce (£190k) - DC - Brighton

Brian Lenihan (£130k) - DR - Dundee

Conor Townsend (£90k) - DL - Partick Thistle

Shaun Maloney (£60k) - MR/L, AMR/L - Rangers

Allan McGregor (Released) - GK

Eldin Jakupovic (Released) - GK

Ryan Taylor (Released) - DR

Total Received: £18.52m

Hernandez was my top scorer last season but I feel that was mostly down to his physicals and I didn't think he'd be clinical enough for the Premier League. He also got a huge wage hike after promotion, so I took the £12m to re-invest. Diame was into the final year of contract and wanted £50k p/w to renew. While he was solid enough in the middle I didn't think he was worth that so took the money and freed up wage space. Doran, Clucas, Bruce, Lenihan and Townsend were all never going to play so I took whatever I could to free up more wages while the 3 released players also went for the same reason. Maloney was great at the start of the first season but now 33 and turning 34 he's rapidly declining, plus he got a wage rise to £17k which is now freed up.

Squad Depth

My depth looks like this, with players from the original squad highlighted in bold.

GK: Rossbach, Bentley, Jarstein

DR: Zappacosta, Odubajo

DC: Dawson, Maguire

DC: Davies, Bennett

DL: Robertson, Berardi

MC(d): Torres, Livermore

MC(s): Alli, Fabinho

AMC: Olsson, Crawford

MR/AMR: Snodgrass, Aluko, McGowan

ML/AML: Bueno, Konradsen

STC: Ivan, Cummings, Diomande

So my defence is still mostly from the original squad while my attacking players have quite a few new additions, which I'd say reflects the strength of the squad in reality. While I have one MC flagged for a support role I may find that I play a pair of holding players a lot season. I can use various roles there but may just add 'hold position' to the CM(S) to keep him deeper, will see.

Overall I'm quite happy with the summer window. I added some attacking quality and got a bit more stability in the centre, so it should be enough to stay up. I'm concerned about Dawson's lack of pace but this is his final season with me anyway as he's turning 33 and out of contract next summer. I'll look for a strong replacement for him then.

Based on my own save I think you could have kept hold of Clucas for the £200k you got for him. Maybe similar for Lenihan too but it could be that they have a variable CA in the database. They both feature as squad players in my save and chip in from the bench most games

I'm in 8th in the Premier League with only 8 games left. My game is nerfed to some extent as players are complaining every week that the club is un-achieving. I've raised it as a bug for now but the team was set up as a 13th place finish prior to the season started. We lost in the League Cup in the first round we played but have been between 5th and 10th for most of the season.

By the way, Papa Allam gave me an additional £26m transfer budget and £300k wages when I asked him

Will update tomorrow once the season is over

As a Hull City fan whoever said we play in Orange, you are dead to me.

I am just loading up my first save as Hull City now the full game is out. I will be looking to keep hold of the original squad as much as I can, as I actually think its a very good Championship squad and could do very well in the Premiership too. If I do sign anyone I will be focusing on British talent which Bruce has done this year, rather than the standard FM thing to do of buying the best foreign talent. As much as I love Hull I doubt we will be signing many wonderkids in the coming years!

One thing I am planning to do differently to Bruce is play with a higher tempo, with Huddlestone in the team! Which Bruce has struggled to do on FM, but I find it hard to sell someone who is clearly so talented and English. I will play Livermore just in front of him with Diame behind a striker. I am still shocked Diame has 19 work rate and such poor long shots, which is a bit of shame as his work rate really isn't great in real life. I will be playing Hernandez upfront, having already won promotion from the Championship with Birmingham pace upfront is so key.

Looking at initial signings the only two I might look at signing is another striker to be back up and a left winger on loan with a bit of pace. Either way I will let you know how I get on.

If you can hang on Diomande comes good once he gets back from injury.

Aluko plays very well for me wide on the right too. The left side saw Maloney and Clucas play until Snodgrass came back.

As a Hull City fan whoever said we play in Orange, you are dead to me.

I am just loading up my first save as Hull City now the full game is out. I will be looking to keep hold of the original squad as much as I can, as I actually think its a very good Championship squad and could do very well in the Premiership too. If I do sign anyone I will be focusing on British talent which Bruce has done this year, rather than the standard FM thing to do of buying the best foreign talent. As much as I love Hull I doubt we will be signing many wonderkids in the coming years!

One thing I am planning to do differently to Bruce is play with a higher tempo, with Huddlestone in the team! Which Bruce has struggled to do on FM, but I find it hard to sell someone who is clearly so talented and English. I will play Livermore just in front of him with Diame behind a striker. I am still shocked Diame has 19 work rate and such poor long shots, which is a bit of shame as his work rate really isn't great in real life. I will be playing Hernandez upfront, having already won promotion from the Championship with Birmingham pace upfront is so key.

Looking at initial signings the only two I might look at signing is another striker to be back up and a left winger on loan with a bit of pace. Either way I will let you know how I get on.

That would be me. Apologies. Regardless of what you call it, I've always liked the color. And in my defense, I'm not actually a Hull City supporter.

They did sign Robertson, who is not that far removed from being a wonderkid, and he looks set to develop into a very very good fullback. But sticking with British players makes sense and has some upsides, such as players settling without problem.

Having read the experiences of some folks with other clubs, I'm thinking that sticking with the original squad as much as possible right off the start is an underrated approach that has some real upside. At the very least, minimizing the player movement as much as possible. I don't know if I have the discipline to do that on the first game, but I might give it a try down the road.

Season 2016/17

Managed to finish my first season in the Premier League in 7th place. We never really threatened any higher but also we were unlikely to finish out of the Top 8 or 9 once the league began to split after Christmas

Over the summer we brought in probably too many players

So many so that I was glad two went back on loan to their previous clubs

I knew I needed a GK - so brought in Ospina from Arsenal

I knew I needed some more width so brought in on loan Atsu and Lingard from Chelsea and Man U respectively

I knew I needed a striker so bought two and sold one - really please I brought in Dembele - I also brought in Riviere from Newcastle too, but he was bought to come off the bench

I knew I needed some midfield steel so brought in Gullavogal from Wolfsburg - I'd never heard of him previously but his stats best fitted my needs

In addition to this I went on a scattergun approach to add some youth to the ranks

Managed to finish my first season in the Premier League in 7th place. We never really threatened any higher but also we were unlikely to finish out of the Top 8 or 9 once the league began to split after Christmas

Great finish there! Looks like Dembele and Aluko were essential for scoring the majority of your goals, seems Aluko managed to stay fit most of the season with 27 games started? Did you stick with the same 4231 setup or tweak your system?

I've started my second season. Got hammered by Liverpool and Tottenham in my first 2 matches, and Leicester knocked me out of the League Cup already, but I did just get back to back wins against Swansea and Southampton. Those 6 points could be vital as my next run is Man City, Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal - any points from those will be unexpected!

I've made a couple of tweaks to my 4411, and added a setup with the AMC dropped back to DMC for the tougher away matches. Hopefully I can get through this tough stretch and pick up some more wins when the schedule gets a bit easier.

Dawson has been caught out quite a bit with players getting in bhind him so I've started playing Bennett at centre back instead. He seems to perform better in my system, being that bit faster. Unfortunately that means I have Dawson warming the bench with his 44k p/w wage! In hindsight I should probably have sold him in the summer, I've never liked using slow defenders.

Playing the 16.1.1 Demo ATM with Hull City.

4231 Formation. Not bought a single player as I should be able to walk the league with this squad - and I am! Top of the league after 8 Games.

Akpom on the left wing, Diomande Up Front and Aluko on the Right Wing with Maloney as the Advanced Playmaker is working superb.

4231 Formation. Not bought a single player as I should be able to walk the league with this squad - and I am! Top of the league after 8 Games.

Akpom on the left wing, Diomande Up Front and Aluko on the Right Wing with Maloney as the Advanced Playmaker is working superb.

Keep it going The starting squad certainly is strong enough to gain promition, and Maloney is a very useful creative player for the first season. Are you likely to convert the demo save into the full version or start afresh if you buy it?

Keep it going The starting squad certainly is strong enough to gain promition, and Maloney is a very useful creative player for the first season. Are you likely to convert the demo save into the full version or start afresh if you buy it?

waiting on the patches before i make a decision mate, if i buy i will defo start from new as i normally do a huge database and theres nobody on the quick start demo

Season 2: 2016-27, January Update

I started off slow, facing all the big teams very early, but pulled myself out of the relegation zone and up to 10th when fixtures eased. Around Christmas I added some unexpected wins over Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool too which was nice. In the January transfer window I signed Kristoffer Ajer for £1.3m to develop as a holding midfielder and Michael Keane as another centre back for £7m in anticipation of Dawson going at the end of the season. Unfortunately my decision to sign 8 youngsters for the future (all 16-17) backfired, as my first team tactical familiarity got destroyed despite them all going straight into the U18 squad. Since then my performances have dropped a little so I'm having to focus match tactics training again to get that back up. Note to self: do youth signings in the summer window from now on! At least I'm still 13th, and hopefully I can pick things back up quickly.

I won a work permit appeal for Cristian Pavon too, so I recalled him from loan in January and he's being eased into matches.

Curtis Davies has been Mr Reliable in defence with Maguire and now Keane fighting for the spot next to him. My midfield has been rotating a bit but Alli has been great in the middle and Bueno nicely creative on the left. Ivan and Cummings have been sharing the goals up front, rotating based on who's in form.

I'm still switching between 4411 for 'easier' games and a 451 for tougher matches, making tweaks to counter opposition, but I have a feeling teams are starting to be more cautious against me so I might need to attack a little more in the second half of the season.

Nice that you're doing well in the Prem. Not necessarily an easy thing, especially with a hard run of matches like that to start out. That can kill your morale and make it tougher going forward, once you reach the "easier" matches.

The one thing I'm still debating is whether to sell Elmohamady at the start. There is always a club that wants him and in testing, I can get a bit for him. Not tons, but 3m is still decent money to play with. He's probably just going to be the backup rightback and he's out of contract in 2016. I figure if I can't land a decent backup from Scandinavia, there are a couple to take on loan from Prem clubs. Do you guys keep him or plan to sell?

I chose to sell Elmo immediately as in my eyes he'd be most useful as a winger to keep putting crosses in, but that wasn't what I had in mind tactically (I used Aluko and Snodgrass cutting in from the right wing). He didn't appeal as a right back and with his contract expiring I felt it better to take whatever money I could immediately rather than risk getting nothing by running his contract down. If you go with something like a 442 and want plenty of crosses in to a pair of strikers he'd probably be quite effective though.

I chose to sell Elmo immediately as in my eyes he'd be most useful as a winger to keep putting crosses in, but that wasn't what I had in mind tactically (I used Aluko and Snodgrass cutting in from the right wing). He didn't appeal as a right back and with his contract expiring I felt it better to take whatever money I could immediately rather than risk getting nothing by running his contract down. If you go with something like a 442 and want plenty of crosses in to a pair of strikers he'd probably be quite effective though.

Yeah, pretty much by thoughts Elmohamady. Good player but just that - good. Limited if you play him defense due to his defensive liabilities. Not really a great winger, either. I figure 2 or 3m is pretty good money for a player who is only going to be a backup for me, and there should be options available to backup Odubajo.

The tactical familiarity drop due to signings kids is a bit painful, but I appreciate the warning to watch out for it.

I'm still on day one of the new game as I just haven't had time to move forward with it. Creating a way-too-big shortlist and deciding who to scout right off the start. The intent is to sell Elmohamady but only him. Davies and Huddlestone get extensions. Want to grab Sondre Rossbach to rotate in immediately and be the goalkeeper of the future. Intend to raid Dundee United for three players. John Souttar will cost a bit but he is a midfielder who can/should develop to replace Huddlestone. Ali Coote is smallish playmaker who may not be able to contribute regularly right away. And the younger Souttar is Harry, a 6'8" defender who is very raw. I still need to decide on a backup rightback and would like to find developmental players for CM and striker. I was hoping to target Gustav Engvall but not sure he will join, according to my scouts. Same with some of the Scandinavian regulars - Hou Saeter, Ajer, and Iver Fossum. Not interested at this point. Loads of talent in Serbia but non-EU makes the Work Permits an issue. There is talent to be found, just a matter of searching and finding the right ones.

Rossbach has been developing fast for me. Most of his relevant attributes are 14/15 now, and still plenty of potential to fill. A great budget keeper if you can get him. I made a mistake bidding for Fossum in the first season as he refused to enter contract talks with me and signed for Atletico Madrid instead. Now he'd cost £10m+.

Rossbach has been developing fast for me. Most of his relevant attributes are 14/15 now, and still plenty of potential to fill. A great budget keeper if you can get him. I made a mistake bidding for Fossum in the first season as he refused to enter contract talks with me and signed for Atletico Madrid instead. Now he'd cost £10m+.

That's awesome. I signed him on FM15 saves, with both Dortmund and Vitesse. In both he developed into starting caliber before long. Well, with Vitesse, he pretty much started out on level with their other two keepers. Such a bargain. One thing I don't think I mentioned - on a test save, I offered him the minimum squad role he would accept right at the start, but he ended up accepting an offer to go join the fleet of promising goalkeepers at Manchester United instead. On another test, I offered him Rotation and he accepted my offer quite quickly. So if you are trying to land him, up the squad role a level or two so you can be certain.

Tough to land some of the "could be wonderkids", as a lot of them just aren't interested in joining Hull City. But there are always other options to unearth.

One thing noticed on the beta that may not hold true on the full version... I ran a 4 year watcher sim and noticed that a decent number of highly promising young players had stayed at their smaller home clubs rather than being snapped up by the big clubs at 18 or 19 years old. Which means that in a save like this, a few of them could be signable 2 or 3 years down the road when the club reputation is raised a bit. I need to run another watcher sim to see if it still happens.

End of Season 2: 2016-17

I went into the new season keeping the default minimum aim of avoiding relegation. A tough early fixture list saw me in the bottom 3 but I pulled myself up to mid-table when things eased and never looked in trouble throughout the second half of the season. I wasn't pushing for a European spot but I finished in 12th, comfortably achieving my goal.

FA Cup: 5th Round (lost 0-1 to Everton)

League Cup: 3rd Round (lost 1-2 to Leicester)

I didn't always play that system, with some 451 mixed in for tougher matches, and in the 4411 I did tinker with roles a little (eg. DLPs or CMs instead of the RPMs) but that's what I finished the season using as my 'normal' approach to most games.

Original Squad Players

My defence was still mostly 'original' with Robertson and Davies at the heart but as the season went on Dawson turned 33 and got even slower so he barely played. Maguire did ok next to Davies, rotating with Bennett until I signed Keane in January. On the right Odubajo was mostly 2nd choice, rotating in when Zappacosta was tired or out of form.

In midfield Snodgrass and Aluko were sharing wide-right but neither were particularly effective and when Pavon returned from loan in January I moved Bueno out to the right. Snodgrass just didn't have the pace I needed there and Aluko wasn't creative enough most games. I did give Snodgrass some games at AMC after, which suited him more. Livermore was my backup/rotation for both the central midfield roles, and again he did ok there without being either great or awful.

Diomande whined constantly about not playing but when I accepted bids for him in January he refused to sign contracts with anyone else, then whined again after that he wanted to leave for first team football! At that point I put him in the U21s and he'll never even make the bench for me again - if he won't leave when I try to sell him again in the summer he can rot in the reserves until his contract ends.

New Players

Ivan stood out as my top scorer, a much better fit than Cummings for the role I want to use. Lots of room to develop further too. Rossbach only averaged 6.75 but he kept me in a lot of games with some brilliant saves, and also has more room to develop. Alli was my strongest central midfielder and I will keep developing him for that deeper support role. Bueno and Pavon were both great but really they're both suited to cutting in from the left wing so I need a solution for the right. Zappacosta started playing like Robertson once he settled in, a nice addition, and Ajer should devlop well to take over from Torres as my holding player after adding him in January. Keane immediately settled and did well as my covering central defender, I just need to sort a regular partner for him now Davies is going to start declining (he'll turn 33 next season).

Summary

Another good season, probably could've been better but I'll take a comfortable mid-table position. Now I'll probably spend quite a while getting things set up progress, search for youth, upgrade facilities, fintune my backroom staff etc. There are a few players I didn't use much who I'll probably try to sell and Dawson will likely be released with his age. I'll probably focus a search for new players on a creative right winger but I'm sure I'll still end up signing for several other positions too - if I see opportunities to strengthen the squad I'll take them wherever possible as I'd like to progress from here and push for top 6/7 to get European football soon.

Nice recap and not a bad season. Being in the top half of the table and challenging for Europe is appealing but something to build toward. Ivan looks like a solid player. What are his attributes like at this point?

Curious how the club is doing with the funds. Do you get a decent amount to spend, or are you mostly raising the funds through selling? How has Rossbach develop? Has Robertson developed much further?

Ivan looks like a solid player. What are his attributes like at this point? .....

..... How has Rossbach develop? Has Robertson developed much further?

My attribute colours are a little different from default as I tailor them to how I view players:

<= 11: Grey (Poor)

12-13: Orange (Mediocre)

14-15: Yellow (Good)

16+: Green (Excellent)

The funds for the first Premier League season were quite good. With the lowest goal of avoiding relegation they gave me a £25m transfer budget with £580k p/w for wages, so plenty of room to adjust. I did raise another £19m on top of that through selling players, and was able to spend a total of £44m while staying under the wage budget and still having a little transfer money left. Overall I'd say very healthy finances if you get promoted the first season.

I now have a bank balance of £65m, having made a profit of £41m for the season - the TV money is insane. I don't know what my budgets will be for next season yet as I'm analysing things and planning changes to my backroom staff before continuing but it should be a decent increase.

Curious how the club is doing with the funds. Do you get a decent amount to spend, or are you mostly raising the funds through selling?

I just continued a few days and the board gave me initial budgets for next season... wow.

Wage Budget: £875k p/w (up from £580k this season)

Transfer Budget: £59m (up from £25m this season)

I might just have to expand my shopping list with that! A lot will depend on who's willing to join a club outside Europe though, so I may invest heavily in youth to develop.

Awesome that you get tons of money. Kinda figured that might happen due to the TV deal, but still.... whoa....

Will do a proper update with my game soon, even though I've only got a couple matches into the first season. In my previous test save after the full version release, I managed to get Rossbach to agree to join right away by offering him a juicy contract, despite interest from other much bigger clubs. Not sure if I didn't make the contract appealing enough but it took him a solid two weeks to decide, and he went to Juventus. At least he didn't go to Manchester United this time. Left me scrambling for a backup plan. I don't really have any desire to extend McGregor.

I've been thinking long and hard about which side to begin my FM16 career when I'm back from my holiday & I have now narrowed down the teams I'd be likely to start with to Cardiff & Hull City. But with Hull having a thread (good work btw with this) for me to update my career and share/recieve advice too may just sway me to starting with these. A bonus being they've a nice starting squad to play with, and with an addition or two I think I could get them promoted and hopefully keep them up the season after.

2015-2016 Update

Season So Far

I was going to make a prettier post, with images but I got lazy so wall of text it is.

Made it through to the end of September. Undefeated so far, which is nice but not totally unexpected with the quality in the squad. Its not gonna continue. Already had some close calls. Through to the fourth round of the League Cup but a bit lucky there as haven't played a Prem club. Have Middlesborough in the 4th round.

As I mentioned before, I'm using a 4-4-2 narrow diamond counter-attacking tactic. Its working quite well, but I'm giving up some goals. With just the wingbacks for width, it seems to wear them out. But the two up top get goals. Hernandez, Aluko, and Diomande have 15 goals between the three of them.

Transfers

I agree with the above assessment that the Hull City squad is strong enough to achieve promotion without much. But with some money to spend, I figured I would target some younger players who could provide depth and hopefully develop into starters down the road. I mentioned above that I missed out on one of my targets, Sondre Rossbach. Which resulted in me making a slightly questionable decision but nothing harmful.

The only transfer out was Elmohamady. Got 5m Euros from Monaco, which was a bit more than I expected. And I ended up spending more than I intended because of that... Almost all of the young players I've bought are rated as 4 stars plus a black star by the scouts.

John Souttar - DM - Dundee United - probably my main target. Fairly similar to Huddlestone - a big DM without great quickness. He lacks the outstanding passing of Huddlestone but I'm hoping to develop that and make him a bit more solid defensively, too. He was costly - 5m Euros - so hoping he pans out.

Ali Coote - AM - Dundee United - much more raw prospect. Has some interesting random attributes for a smaller playmaker - 20 Determination, 16 Teamwork, and 13 Work Rate. If his technical and physical skills can develop, he could be a unique talent.

Morten Konradsen - AM - Bodo/Gimt - stolen idea but he was available to sign as his contract was coming up then he cost me a lovely 60k to sign immediately. Solid little player with some potential.

Harry Souttar - DC - Dundee United - The younger brother of John. A very raw defender, but he's 6'8". That's always fun.

Jason Cummings - ST - Hibernian - depth striker. Not really required because of Akpom but couldn't resist.

Adam Buska - ST - Lechia - a total luxury buy. On FM15, I had fun developing a young all-around striker. Tried to target that same player but he wasn't interested. A few others weren't either. I settled on Buksa, who is a solid all around striker for an 18 year old. I have visions of developing him into a poor man's Lewandowski but its not real likely.

Borja San Emeterio - RB - Racing - my first "panic" buy. After selling Elmo, I figured on landing a decent Scandinavian fullback or loaning a Prem prospect. It wasn't quite working out and I didn't want to have no depth behind Odubajo. My first target, Stojanovic, didn't want to join. My second target was Linus Wahlqvist, and a bunch of big clubs bid as soon as I did. He went to Chelsea. Someone here on the board had recommended San Emeterio in a thread and he looked solid, if a bit small and lacking in strength. Ended up being a bit pricey at 4.3m, but he's been good enough to flat out rotate with Odubajo, which is nice. Wasn't intending to get a replacement starter but basically did.

Vanja Milinkovic Savic - GK - Loan from Manchester United - after Rossbach went to Juventus and Dragowski was clearly too expensive, I made a loan offer for Savic. Pretty decent Serbian keeper and very tall. I figure he's probably not going to be good enough for United so building a relationship with him now might make landing him later possible. But as I don't want to resign either McGregor or Jakupvic, I need to find a Prem-caliber keeper I can land in the summer - assuming I do manger to get promoted.